Technicalities About Awnings

Awnings are counted as structures that are used as covering option for other constructional elements of a space, such as windows, doors, exterior spaces, etc. The material that goes into construction of awnings is canvas, which is woven from yarns of acrylic, cotton or polyester. Canvas awnings are the preferred choice because of its durability properties. Sometimes, polyester fabric is also used for construction of awnings. This fabric is laminated with vinyl. The material is then stretched over aluminium backing which is then affixed to a truss-like structure to support it.

In some places, especially heavy-duty materials are required, for which aluminium sheeting is used for awnings. These aluminium awnings are more durable, stronger and can be painted suitably too. The paint usually used on these awnings is the baked-on enamel paint. You can actually give it any kind of visual appeal you want. Aluminium is an epitome of long life – it can last the user for as long as forty years.

Awnings require structures to be hosted upon, or to be fixed to other structural elements of a building. This structure usually consists of a truss (or a space frame, or a planar frame) to support the awning, and this truss then is fixed to a wall using bolts, or is welded as need arises. This structure, in entirety, is actually usually a very small assembly which does not take up much space. Depending on the size of the area being sheltered under an awning, this structure is suitably designed. A large part of awning design consists of wind tolerance computations, for all the obvious reasons. No one wants their awning to take off with the storm.

Retractable awnings are especially gaining popularity throughout the world because of the convenience they offer to the customer. There are two types of retractable awnings available these days: a manual one and a motorized one. As the name suggests, the manual awning requires a human to work at levers and geared pulleys to retract or unfurl the awning (no rocket-science here). A motorized assembly utilizes electric power to do the same thing. There is more maintenance in retractable awnings because of the fact that they contain many moveable parts, as we will see further in this article.

A retractable awning consists of a retractable arm, which can be of two types. The first type is the articulated arm. This is the awning where unfurling and retracting takes place through a spring-loaded mechanism, and takes place in parts. This mechanism can be manually controlled or automated through the use of electrical components. The second type is the telescopic arm. This type of mechanism is especially used in smaller patio applications, as it contains gas-cylinders controlling the unfurling and retracting mechanisms on telescopic arms. They also ask for higher maintenance as the gas may leak out in the later years.

In general, if one gets down to the pros and cons, we have a balanced scale here when it comes down to awning mechanisms. It may interest the readers to know that motorized awnings add convenience at the cost of demanding maintenance.

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About The Author

Tina Horton is a well known interior designer and decorator and has a knack of picking out the best quality products from the market to use for her projects. To help fellow designers and home owners out in doing the same, she likes to write about her latest finds in the market in highly informative articles. If you are looking for shelves, window panes or garage doors Pittsburgh decorator Tina always recommend Gielgaragedoors.com.

Andrew Parks is a specialist awnings contractor and bulk dealer. He reasons that affixing awnings to the fenestration of a building helps to accrue many physical and psychological benefits.